When entertainment must be provided — but skill isn’t necessary. When strategy proves too taxing — yet hours must somehow be filled, so enters Sonic Shuffle. Aside from a few minor complaints, this offering, in a genre heretofore under–represented on the Dreamcast, is plenty amusing and if you want to pass a few hours playing a light interactive board game, à la Mario Party, here you will find ample opportunities for fun.

Game mechanics are basic, and even if they’re not immediately obvious, you’ll know intuitively what you need to do (which isn’t much). When playing a Sonic character of your choice, you work your way around a board (the game offers five to choose from) in an effort to reach a Precioustone, which is at a different location for each level. There’s one Precioustone per round, and whoever finishes with the most Precioustones wins. Along the way you collect rings and other gems that can help you throughout the game. What you collect depends on where you land. Some spaces offer rings, others take them away. Most importantly, though, certain spots offer minigames and other events that make the game fun. The four–player minigames are where board games traditionally shine, and there are several reasons whySonic Shuffle is no exception. Primarily, beating on your friends in silly kiddie environments and meaningless little competitions can put a smile on just about anyone’s face. The games vary in structure: Some pit one player against the other three; other times it’s two on two; still others create an "every cartoon character for him or herself" environment. The games can be tough to figure out, and they don’t require a ton of actual skill, but if you’re worried about traditional notions like skill or rules, you’re likely to be missing the point. Sonic Shuffle just isn’t a game of skill, nor is it one of strategy. It's about pummeling your buddies into ring surrendering submission and stealing their best cards when they need them most — and that doesn’t require much skill or strategy.

The only real problem with Sonic Shuffle is that the minigames and player vs. player action come in all too short spurts. It works something like this: Player one picks a card, moves a few spaces, picks up some rings. Player two picks a card, moves a few spaces, loses some rings. Player three picks a card, moves a few spaces, uses rings to buy stones for use on next turn. Player four picks a card, moves a few spaces, lands on a minigame. Everybody rejoices that they finally get to do something fun! Minigame lasts 20 seconds. And the cycle begins anew. It can become laborious because players only land on minigames now and then (as opposed to after every four–player–turn in Nintendo’s Mario Party), and the other types of events (single–player battles and games) are somewhat boring. Getting started is also rather tedious, as you must choose characters, difficulty level, game length and environment. While the potential for customization might be handy for some, streamlining Sonic Shuffle would have let players get right to the action. But as it is, this set–up process will give those not familiar with the Dreamcast and its controller a chance to learn their way around.

Offering plenty of haphazard, but fun, board–gaming action that will give everyone a laugh, the game is pure distraction. It’s got visuals worthy of any nine–year–old’s sticker collection, and the stories accompanying game play are positively silly. Even if not every aspect of the game makes a ton of sense, it should serve well to pass the hours in mindless but compelling living room competition. Keep in mind that the game is meant to be multiplayer. A lone shuffler playing against three computer assisted opponents will be both bored and beaten quickly and decisively.

Overall Game Rating: B

Sonic Shuffle’s website